Pigeons and Puppies: Mila's Story
by papadfedr
Summary: A story I wrote for BSP. BSP is like English/Social Studies The ending is really bad.


Maya Goodwin BSP-702

9/12/10 Pigeons and Puppies: Mila's Story Homework

Mila sat on a bench. She was young, about five years old, and accompanied only by a little pug. Mila chewed on a mayonnaise coated hotdog and wondered where her parents were. Several hours ago she had lost them in the crowd in front of FAO Schwarz, where they were shopping for her cousin Lucy's birthday presents. Mila had wandered around until she reached Central Park, which she recognized because her parents often took her there to go sledding in the Winter. Of course, it looked different in the summer, but she recognized the great hilly slopes. She was tired after all that wandering, so she went to a hotdog vendor and ordered her favorite hotdog: mayonnaise coated. The man cooking the hotdogs stared at her skeptically, taking in her age and short brown curls. "Are you sure?", He asked. "Yes ", Mila said. He was surprised. Adults generally preferred the intense and surprising flavor of mayonnaise coated hotdogs. He had never encountered a five year old who liked them before. "For you or for the dog?" he asked, gesturing toward the pug. "No! Not for Buttercup, for _me!_" She said impatiently. "All right, all right, here you go," he responded, handing her a hotdog. In exchange she handed him a crumpled five dollar bill that she had found on the sidewalk. Mila sat on a park bench with Buttercup, eating her hotdog.

She considered her options. She could wander around looking for her parents, or she could tell a policeman that she had lost them. She chose the latter, as it seemed that less things could go wrong. She decided that she would wait an hour or two before leaving to find a policeman so that she could feed the hungry pigeons her hotdog leftovers. Mila threw crumbs at them and they eagerly pecked. Buttercup growled at the pigeons, competing with them for scraps. A small house sparrow landed nearby. The pigeons, so much bigger than the sparrow, let it eat only the smallest crumbs. Buttercup barked at the birds, frightening them and sending them all flying away.

Mila resolved that it was time to leave. She wandered around Central Park looking for a

policeman. When she finally found one it was sunset and Mila was starting to get cold. She walked up to the policeman, who was mounted on a bay horse, and stroked it's velvety neck. She would have petted it's nose, but her arms didn't quite reach that far up. "Mister...policeman...sir? I lost my parents, and would you please help me find them... sir?", Mila asked him. The policeman was so tall astride his horse that Mila had to tilt her head back to watch his reaction. "Girl, we police don't have time for games. So go scurry off to your parents". "But—", Mila started to say. "No but's!", he snapped at her. He slapped his heels to his horse's sides and cantered away. Mila stared after him. What was she supposed to do? It was completely dark and Mila was freezing. She zipped her thin blue sweater up all the way and stuffed her hands into her pockets. The policeman plan obviously didn't work so Mila guessed that she would have to use her other plan: wander around until she found her parents. But it was nighttime and Mila had to find a place to sleep. She wished that she could go home, but it was far away and she wasn't sure she could find her way in the dark. Mila would have to stay in Central Park for the night.

She decided she would sleep in a tree. She had seen movies of people who did that so she knew it was possible. Mila was small and agile, so she wouldn't have any trouble climbing the tree. Finding the right tree to sleep in would be the problem. Mila had thought that finding a tree would be easy. She was soon proved wrong.

Whenever Mila thought she found the perfect tree she realized it had lots of ants or was too tall or was already inhabited by squirrels. Finally she found the perfect tree. It wasn't very tall and had a very sweet smell. Mila wondered what it was. She climbed the tree and made herself comfortable on two branches jutting out from the main trunk about seven feet up.

Mila couldn't fall asleep. The rough bark beneath her scraped uncomfortably against her back

and she missed the warmth of Buttercup pressing against her. Mila sat upright. Where was Buttercup? She couldn't remember seeing him when she talked to the policeman; perhaps he was scared of the horse an ran away. "My poor puppy! All alone! I hope he's all right", Mila thought. She wished that she could go looking for him but she couldn't see anything in the darkness and she needed to sleep. Mila would look for both Buttercup and her parents the next day.

She awoke to birdsong. The leaves on the branches above her were a dark green and they bore big pinkish fruit. Mila wondered if they were edible. They looked like peaches and the smell she had noticed before came undoubtedly from these fruits. Mila twisted one off the stem. It didn't have fuzzy skin, so she guessed that she was holding a wild nectarine. She sank her teeth into it's soft flesh. It was delicious and tasted like the cut-up peaches her mom put in her cereal sometimes. Thinking about her parents made her sad. She missed them and Buttercup so much. Once she finished her nectarine, Mila climbed down the tree and started the search for her parents and her dog. She chose to go to her apartment first. Maybe her parents had gone there when they had realized she was gone. Mila started walking towards her home when a sharp, searing pain bounded up her legs. They were very sore from all the walking she had done the day before. She remembered that near the hotdog vendor there was a little booth with a sign that read: 100% Biodegradable Walking Sticks 1¢. Mila hobbled there and watched as a customer glanced at her like she was a wild animal, something to be feared. She realized what she looked like. She was limping, she had twigs in her hair, nectarine juice on her shirt, and dirt was smeared on her pants. She blushed and handed a penny she dug out of her pocket to the woman selling the walking sticks. The woman looked over her wares and chose the shortest stick she could find, to match Mila's height. Mila looked at her new stick and said , "Thank you". The woman made no reply.

Mila found herself very thankful for the stick. It aided her walking greatly. After hours of

walking, when she finally reached her home, her muscles were burning and she was gasping for breath.

Mila rang her doorbell and she heard a dog barking. "Shhh! Buttercup, be quiet!", a familiar voice said. Mila's parents opened the door. "Mila!", They cried. "Where have you been?". "Everywhere!", Mila replied. "But how in the world did Buttercup get here?". Her parents said, "We found her in front of the apartment this morning. But tell us where you've been!". Mila told them.


End file.
